Meeting Arizona’s Water Issues

Conservation Programs

Arizona’s least expensive and most reliable long-term new source of water is Conservation. While all sectors of the water community: Municipal, Agriculture, Industrial, and Tribal have made great progress in reducing their average consumption per person, conservation needs to be on the top of our list for providing a sustainable new source of water.  As a CAWCD Board member, I have been a part of several conservation awareness campaigns and programs such as the “Protect Lake Mead” program.  The health of Lake Mead and the Colorado River are critical to protecting our valuable water supplies.   As a CAWCD Board member, I continually push and support development of programs to conserve and preserve our most valuable asset, our future water supply.

Colorado River Shortage and Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)

Arizona is unfortunately in a unique position, having the lowest priority water on the Colorado River, and Central Arizona has the lowest priority within Arizona.   This means CAWCD Board Members need to understand the “Law of the River” and all its immense complexities to provide Arizona the support we need during the upcoming negotiations with the other six Basin States.   The Arizona water community, with CAWCD as a major contributor, came together and successfully approved the DCP (Drought Contingency Plan) in January of 2019.  The DCP succeeded in providing an agreement between the seven Basin States to support the level of Lake Mead, greatly reducing the potential of a disastrous shortage on the Colorado River, which directly impacts the future water sources of Arizona.

The existing 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines will be expiring and new negotiations between the seven basin states starting in 2020 to determine the future of our water source for the next 20 years.   We need CAWCD Board members with the experience and expertise to successfully work through and complete this long and important process.

Developing New Sources of Sustainable Water for Arizona:

Groundwater is not a sustainable source of water for our existing uses nor the future growth of our Communities.   We need to make use of our most valuable and renewable water assets, which is effluent from our wastewater treatment plants, and new sources of sustainable water.   We have a great opportunity to work with our Tribal neighbors to develop collaborative agreements providing new source of renewable water for our future.

In the more distant future, desalination of both local brackish water and sea water in Mexico and California show great promise. Technology is continually improving and reducing the cost of this new source of water.  Through exchange agreements with our partners adjacent to the ocean, we can exchange Colorado River water and have new source delivered by way of our existing CAP Canal system.  This helps our neighbors with new source of water as well as taking advantage of our existing $4 billion-dollar CAP delivery system.

Future Growth and Water Supplies

Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD)

Another important responsibility of the CAP Board is overseeing the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District. The CAGRD is charged with providing a continual source of renewable water to be replenished in aquifers for new subdivisions with no alternative renewable source.

Growth has always been an integral part of Arizona, both for its economy and due to its incredible natural beauty and climate. We must protect our natural assets, while maintaining a reliable and safe drinking water supply long into the future. This will require an innovative and strategic approach to balance these important issues.

In the next few years evaluate potential changes to our supply for future growth. This important process will take leadership and understanding of the past history, as well as existing water laws. CAWCD board members must potential affects of changes to bring about a future which is best for our State and our future water supplies.